


I'll Figure You Out

by PrideandPadawans



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Gotham Academy (Comics)
Genre: Asexual Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 12:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5048152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrideandPadawans/pseuds/PrideandPadawans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Maps stumbles upon the Batcave, Damian's life and heart get complicated. Fluff and some Batfam to come. DamiMaps</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Im not sticking with any particular continuity, so just roll with it.

Map scours the wooded area around Wayne Manor with her namesake in hand. She’s 68% sure that Batman has his base in this area. The girl has collected everything she could on the vigilante. She’s traced sightings and directions and graphed them out. If all her math was right Batman in somewhere in this 360 acre area. If you cover one acre a week, with 52 weeks it’s only 6.9 years. Maps lets out an audible sigh. Despite being statistically improbable she hopes that she might find them today.

Maps walks over tree roots blindly until the sound of dripping water catches her ear. The brown haired girl turns and walks toward the noise. She moves through vegetation and a cave rises in front of her. “Cool.” She sets her backpack down and pulls her head lamp out of the front pocket. As she starts into the cave she turn in ton. The light disappears quickly and the paths begin to split. Every time they do, she sticks a piece of duct tape to the dryest section of wall she can find. The girl looks around in wonder, making a mental note to get the detective club in here. They would have a field day. Midway in she stumbles onto a flat pah with tire tracks. Maps bends down to check them out, and decides to follow them in the direction that heads even deeper in. ‘What if they’re the batmobile? Bats live in caves.’ She thinks to herself. The ever so faint sound of voices reached her ears, they are distorted and being carried only by echos.

Despite the statistical improbability of finding the Bat cave on her first day of searching, she get excited. The caves stretch on for miles and the girl hopes that her dumb luck will get her there. She turns a corner and the cavern opens up into a massive space. She instantly knows that it’s the Batcave. “Oh. My. God”

The two heads, one sitting and a smaller standing, over by a vast computer whip around around.

Map’s joy is briefly replaced with fear, until the smaller figure simply asks, “Maps?”

The girl runs closer, and she recognized the boy. “Knew it!”

“How’d you get in?” asks a stern voice.

“The caves.” She starts looking around. “This place is huge! I mean like, echo!” She announces and her voice bounces around.  

“The caves go on for miles.” starts Bruce, “How did you find this spot?”

“Luck, destiny. Actually, I just found the tire tracks.”

Bruce looks over to Damian quickly, who is clearly annoyed, trying to figure out what to do. He is familiar with her and the girl knows him and does not seem to be afraid of either of them. That is interesting, most people cower at Batman, but this girl just looks excite. “Go show her around.” He says to Damian.

“Shouldn’t we be getting her out?”

“I’ll figure it out. “

“-tt-”

The boy walks down to her.

 

He joins her at a display case holding some small relics from their adventures. She seems awed by two-Face’s coin. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“This place is so cool though. You should offer tours.”

“You’re missing the secret part.”

“The Justice League offers tours.”

“No. They don’t.”

“Yes they do. I’ve been on one.” Damian lets it go.

“-tt-” Map whirls around looking a the batcomputer. A map of the sewage tunnel catches her eye. It’s much more detailed than anyone she has seen before, well except her own. She walks up to it and Bruce Wayne sits next to her, studying her.

“Your’re map is wrong Mr. Wayne.” He looks over to her.

“How so? I’ve made it myself.”

“You’re missing some passages, they’re tiny, about two feet tall, and they connect some of the bigger tunnels together.” She swings her bag around and reaches inside and pulls out a stack of folded pieces of papers. She peeks inside each of them, before passing one over to Bruce. “This is mine I made it last summer.”

“I assume that’s how you got the name Maps.”

“Yep. If you want to hold on to it you can.”

“Now, you know that you can tell no one what you're found out here today.”

“Yep.”

“Because if people knew who Batman and Robin really are then things could get really bad.”

“I figured. Don’t worry my lips are sealed.”

Bruce pauses before continuing, “Perhaps you could stop by with some more of your maps and make sure everything is up to date. Plus Daiman could use some company.”

The young boy glares as the girl speaks out in agreement.

o.0.o

Maps has stoped by quite a few time now and Bruce notices his son slowly taking a liking to her. He’ll catch him explaining some long winded story to her about a small souvenir. Currently, he hears bateranges hit the wall way off target as he climbs down into the Batcave. Finally one hits home and a female voice cries out, “Look I hit it! Dami look!”

“It was decent.” says his son.

The voices stop for a moment and Damian starts sputtering. He has never heard the boy not have a remark before. He reaches the bottom stair and clears his throat, as he enters the room.

“Father,” states Daiman turning around with his face red.

“Maps,” stars Bruce, “It’s getting late, you best head back to school.”

“Oh right. Thanks Mr. Wayne.”

“I’ll take you.”

“Thanks Dami.”

 

o.0.o

After patrol Damian returns to his room and calls the only person he can think of.

“Hey Damian, what’s up?”

“I fear my life has reached the point where I must ask you for advice.”

“Girl or Bruce?”

“Girl. I expect to see you in 33 minutes.”

“You want me to drive to Gotham?”

“Yes.”

“At 3 am.”

“Yes.”

“Let me get dressed.” Dick Grayson hangs up the phone and Damian sits on his bed, knowing that he will never live down asking him for help.

 

“Does wittle Damian have a crush?” Dick says as he reaches his brother’s doorway.

“Get in and close the door.”

Dick does as he’s told and flops down on Damian’s bed, kicking his feet up. “Who is she?”

“Her name is Maps.”

“And...”

“And she goes to Gotham Academy.”

“You got a lot of work to do.”

“You appear to be of no help. I simply wanted to know if you had any input on how to ask a person out.”

“I do, but if you can’t say anymore about her than where she goes to school and her name than you probably shouldn’t be trying to ask her out.”

“-tt-”

“Give me something to work with!” He pines dramatically.

“She is loud. Always excited.”

“So the opposite of you?”

“I suppose.”

“Opposites attract. What does she like do?”

“Some stupid game. Summoners and Swords.”

“Okay first off. Don’t call something she likes stupid. That will only get you in trouble.” Dick says from experience. “But how about taking her to a movie, a little cliche, but make it something she’ll like.”

“Alright. That it is then. Goodbye.”

“You did not just have me drive from Bludhaven for a 10 minute conversation.”

“The conversation was much shorter than 10 minutes.”

“Call her.”

“Now?”

“Yes now. Face time.”

“No.”

“Yes.” Dick makes a lounge for the boy’s phone with a smile on his face, but Damian sees the lunge and jumps out of the way. Dick flips over him and snatches it. That is when it get serious.

Alfred hears the commotion from the kitchen and begins to walk down the hall wanting to know what on Earth Damian was possibly doing.

The sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway and the boy hear them instantly stopping their fighting, with Dick having the phone. Damian sends Dick a death glare while the older boy starts unlocking his phone. There is a knock as Dick gets in.

“Everything is fine, Pennyworth.” states Damian as he opens the door.

“Hey Al.” says Dick from the bed.

“Master Dick I did not know you were here.”

“Decided to stop by.”

“But now I suppose it was you two that I heard in here.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” states Dick to innocently as he finds his way into Damian’s contacts.

“Well, I’m not patching you two up.” Says Alfred as he turns to leave, and as soon as he does, Dick presses call and Damian launches at him. Luckily for Dick, Maps picks up immediately.

“Damian!” She says with excitement and “oh” she responds realizing that it is not him.

“Hi I’m Dick. Damian's brother.” He tosses the phone to Damian who catches it and flips the camera toward him.

“Hey Maps.” He says with his persona flipping on a dime. Dick smiles as he notices it.

“What’s up?”

“Oh nothing.” His eyes catch the background. “Where are you?”

“Inside the walls of the dormitory.”

“Of course you are. Uh Maps I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes.” She says certainly.

“Wait, What?”

“I’ll go out with you.” Dick lets out a large laugh, while Damian reels; his plan has gone ary.

“How did you know?”

“You’re not as unpredictable as you think.”

“So Friday at 6.”

“Let’s do 5:30.”

“That works.”

“See you then.”

“Don’t get lost.”

“I got my map.” she says holding up a piece of paper. The call ends.

“Jesus Christ.” laughs Dick, “that girl is perfect for you.”

 

o.0.o

Damian met Maps at the edge of Gotham Academy’s property.

“Hi” She says, “Oh I like your shirt.”

Damian looks down at himself and shirt he spent the last hour choosing.

“Thanks You look nice too.” Maps is wearing an oversized sweatshirt and leggings.

“I hear the Maze Runner is pretty good.”

“The book was alright.”

“You read the book?”

“Last night.”

“Wait you read the book just for today?”

“Yes.” Maps grins from ear to ear.

“That’s so sweet.”

 

She grabs the popcorn from the man behind the counter and Damian picks up the soda. “So, what’s your favorite movie?” she asks.

“I haven’t seen many.”

“Why? They’re so much fun!”

“Grandfather called them frivolous and Father is not a fan.”

“ Oh Damian Wayne, we are having a marathon.” On that note they enter the theatre.

 

1/4 of the way through he slips his arm around her shoulders.

 

1/2 through she curls up next to him.

 

3/4 of the way done, they lock hands.

 

They walk outside into the cooling air, ”It was entertaining.” notes Damian mostly to himself because Maps is bouncing around excited.

“It was great!”

“The acting was mediocre.”

“Sooooooo good.”

“The special effects-”

She snaps back to Damian. “Wasn’t it amazing?”

“Yes,” says Damian with a smile and resignation, “It was.”

o.0.o

“You know, I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“I don’t. There is no blood. Grayson was the first Robin.”

“He seemed nice.”

“He is the least insufferable of the lot.”

“So, there are more brothers?”

“They are not my brothers.

“Fine. Who are your not brothers?”

“An ape and a fool.”

Noticing she's not getting anywhere she switches it up, “Anyway, I think that it’s cool you have such a big family. I just have Kyle.”

“I suppose I should meet Kyle. It only seems proper.”

A small chuckle escapes Map’s lips. “Some of the things you say make you seem as if your from a completely different part of the world.”

“Who says I’m not?”

“Are you?” 

“It’s a long story and you have to get back to school.”

“I’ll figure you out, Dami.”

“I have no doubt.”

O.0.o

They reach the end of Gotham Academy's property and begin to bid goodbye. "I had fun tonight." She starts.

"Shall I take you out again?" 

Maps moves closer to him, "I think so."

 Damian panics at her movement closer to him and jumps back. "Uh okay. I'll see you at the cave soon right?"

Her hand rubs her neck as she scoots back leaving a bigger space between them. "Yeah. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." They both turn away cursing themselves.


	2. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heres some cute filler. I'm aiming for weekly updates, but no promises.  
> And apologies about the lengh.

Maps stops by the Batcave a few days later, after her embarrassment has subsided. Damian is the only one there. “Hey,” she tries.  
“Hello.” There is a pause before they both start again simultaneously.  
“-Maps, I’m so-”  
“-Look Dami-”  
“You go.” He speaks.  
“I just thought that people kissed after dates. I didn't know you didn't want to.” She doesn’t catch his eye.  
“Is it custom to kiss after a date?”  
“That's what they do in the movies.”  
“Should we kiss now?”  
“I don't know. They always kiss after the date. Do you want to?”  
“I do not know. Perhaps we should try?” He suggests not trying to upset her.  
“Alright.” They move in close quite awkwardly and mechanically and push their lips together. Damian pulls back when he hears footsteps.  
“Don't think I didn't see that.” states a female voice.  
Barbra catches eyes with Maps “Don't I know you?” She asks.  
“I don't think so.” Responds Maps racking her brain. Bruce enters behind her.  
“Thats Maps. She’s been checking all or the maps on the Batcomputer, but I was wondering if you could teach her your computer skills.”  
“No problem.” says the red smiling at the girl.  
“Cool!” declares Maps.  
Barbra pauses before saying, “You don’t happen to go to Gotham Academy?”  
“Yeah. How’d you… oh you're… right.” The gears turn in her head and it's Damien's turn to look confused.  
Bruce walks over to the Batcomputer and picks up something that is sitting next to the keyboard. “Here,” he says handing it to Barbra.  
“Thanks,” she says turning to leave, “see you later Maps. Have fun Damian.”  
“-tt-” He says turning to Maps awaiting his explanation.  
“Olive and I helped Batgirl once at school. It was a lot of fun. It was also where the baterang went.”  
“You threw it at Barbra.”  
“No, silly, I threw it at the bad guy.”  
o.0.o  
“Where’ve you’ve been?” asks Olive as she runs up to Maps during lunch.  
“Busy.” She says placing an apple on he tray.  
“Um-hm. With what? Wait. Did you let the beetles lose in that halls?”  
“I’m offended that you think I would stoop that low. Anyway, it’s just stuff.”  
Olive rolls her eyes and leads the younger girl over to a table. They slide into their seats and sit across from each other. “It’s a boy.”  
“Noooo.” Responds Maps confirming her suspicions.  
“Who? Does he go here?”  
“Use to, but no telling anyone. Pinkie promise?” She sticks out her finger and the other girl takes it. “It’s Damian Wayne.”  
“Really? He seemed like such a dick.”  
“I know, but he’s nice once you get to know him.”  
“Did you ask him out?”  
“Kinda. I convinced him to ask me.”  
“That’s my girl.”  
o.0.o  
Kyle also started to notice this change in his siter. In particular, he noticed a distinctive lack of Detective Club meetings.He makes it his mission to flag her down after tennis practice.  
“Hey Maps.”  
“Oh, hey Kyle.” She tightens her fall jacket around her. “What’s up?”  
“Nothing much, except i haven’t seen you around at all. No adventures. What’s up with you?”  
“I’ve been busy.”  
“Did you let the beetles out?”  
“No. I told Olive the same thing. Why does everyone think I did that?” He shrugs. There is a slight rev of an engine not to far away.  
“Alright bye!” She says perky, before running out of sight.

“Let movie night begin!” She declares opping on the back of Damian’s bike.  
o.0.o  
Damian sits in front of the TV as Maps pops the DVD into the player. She fumbles with the remote and gets it working. Once the movie’s in she slides back onto the couch, careful not to hit the tub of popcorn between them. She sets the tub on her lap and scoots closer to her boyfriend. As the DVD starts up a large dog bounds into the room and joins them on the couch. His head end up on Damian’s lap. “Who's this?”  
“Titus. My dog.”  
She leans over and scratched behind his ear playfully. Titus gets comfortable. “I didn’t know you had a dog. He's so nice.” The menacing dog looks up and walks over Damian and Maps before planting himself on Maps side. His stomach goes topside. “Who's a good boy?” she says repeatedly as she rubs his belly. Damian looks over. When people first see his dog, they usually get scared. But not Maps, shes reduced his big black dog into an overgrown puppy.  
“Bilbo! I forgot.” Maps exclaims returning her and Damian's attention to the movie. 

“That was interesting, but there was no need for three films.”  
“I agree on the last part.” she says with a yawn as her head falls into Damian’s lap. “Do you have any other pets?”  
“A cow and some cats.”  
“Batcat. Meow” she says sleepily.  
“I’ll show you Batcow sometime.”  
“I gotta ask, how’d you get a pet cow?”  
‘Well, We were hunting down...” and Damian launches into the story, by the time he ends with his the declaration of become a vegetarian and keeping the cow Maps has fallen asleep.  
He looks down at the sleeping girl and tuts before climbing out from under her. He scoops Maps’ limp body up and carries her to one of the spare bedrooms. She groans softly when he places her on the bed and pulls the covers up over her.

“Goodnight, Maps.” He says getting ready to head out for patrol.


	3. SOCK SLIDE!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy some fluff!

They had entered the corn maze convinced to show their smarts and an hour in they still both pretended to know where they were going. 

Two hours in neither would admit that they were lost.”We should go right.” says Maps  
“Agreed.”

At hour three Maps suggests giving up Damian refuses to be bested by the maze and dismisses the idea entirely. 

The sun is beginning to set and the corn maze switches out of family fun mode and into haunted house mode. A rustling starts in the corn behind them. “What's that?”  
“ A male. Roughly six feet. He's intending to scare us.”  
“This won’t be scary with you, will it?”  
“Nothing scares me.”  
“Lair everyone is afraid of something.”  
“There is an exception to every rule.”  
“Hmmm. I'm onto you Damian Wayne.” She says with an eye roll  
“You know nothing.” On that note they round a corner and stumble out of the maze. 

They sit in the lodge sipping apple cider. “So, have you always lived with Bruce?”  
“No I was raised by my mother,” he pauses, “far away.”  
“Where?”  
“Nowhere you'd know.” The conversation lulls and Damian attempts to save it. “So Father is having a Charity Gala and I was wondering if you would like to accompany me?”  
“Of course I would.”  
“Splendid.”

 

Maps pulls open her closet door cursing herself for waiting till the day of to pick an outfit.. What is she going to wear? She pulls out her suit, but would he like her in it? It isn’t very feminine or pretty. He reaches into the back of her closet and pulls out the only dress she has. It’s a puffy blue thing that her mother forced her to bring. This is more fancy she supposes and Damian might like her looking for like a girl. She sighs and starts getting changed.  
Once the dress in on, she slips on a pair of white socks with frills and calls Olive.

“-Maps what's wrong-” she asks a few minutes later as she enters the room only to stop upon seeing her friend all dressed up.  
“Can you do hair and makeup?”  
“I can try.”  
“Good. Make me pretty.”

o.0.o  
Maps feels like she’s wearing a mask by the times Olive is done. She uses a curling iron to mold her hair into a more feminine style. Maps looks up into the mirror.

Damian straightens his bow tie. “You look particularly handsome tonight.” says Alfred from the doorway.  
“Thank you Pennyworth.”  
“Also the young Mizoguchi has arrived.”

Her eyes wonder around the vast Wayne ballroom. She’s been in here before but never has she seen it so full of life. The place usually sits empty and unused, but now people is designer outfits walk around as if they own the place. A tap on her shoulder pulls her from her trance. She whirls around and finds herself face to face with Damian. He squints at her.  
“Why are you wearing such an infernal thing?”  
“What?”  
“The dress. They are horribly impractical.”  
“I had thought you might like it.” She says looking down. “Well, the party’s nice.”  
“I suppose. I would prefer not having to deal with these people, but Father says I must.” Maps looks over to Bruce.  
“Why is he wearing glasses?”  
“Facial recognition. That way he can act like he knows everyone.”  
“Smart. Any of your brothers coming?”  
“No and they're not my brothers.” They take hands and walk into the masses of people. 

Both got quite bored of the party rather quickly, so Maps began explaining the laws of the thumb wrestling. “So you lock hands, like this, and then move your thumb back and forth while saying, ‘One, two, three, four. I declare a thumb war.” Try that.  
“One, two, three, four. I declare a thumb war.”  
“Good now try to pin my thumb down without moving your hand.” The reposition and chant again. Damian pins her in 16 seconds. “Beginners luck.”  
Next time he toys with her for a few minutes, staying just out of her reach. Then he lets her get him. “Don't worry. Youll gets better with time. Damian smiles softly. Maybe letting Maps win on occasion isn't so horrible.  
There is nothing for kids to do at a gala, so as soon as they could Damian and Maps sneak away. They run down Wayne Manors winding halls away from the music. Maps gets another idea and stops once they're far enough away. “Take of your shoes.”  
“Why?”  
“I'm going to show you something. Its called a sock slide.” Maps feet slip out of her Mary Janes and stands in her lace socks. A skeptical Damian unlaces his shoes. “Just run and slide.” She demonstrates and her hands fly out to help her balance. A small scream escapes her lips. “It's fun. I promise.”  
Damian attempts it and fails to keep a straight face. When he stops, Maps takes his hand and they slide together. There's a small shriek as they both lose their balance and fall into a pit ontop of eachother. A fit of giggles erupted from Maps and she catches a smile across Damian's face. They climb back up; their clothes are all wrinkled. Maps hair makes its way back to its normal state.  
“Again?”  
“Again.”

Alfred, while on his way to relieve himself, hears the laughter drifting from the hallway. The butler heads in that direction, expecting to find some party guests with a little bit too much champagne in them. Instead he sees Maps and Damian sliding down the halls and falling to the ground. “Hi Alfred” says the girl from atop Damian.  
“Hello Ms. Mizoguchi.” His eyes land on a vase on a table in the hallway. “Let me just get this out of your way.” He walks over and picks the artifact up.”Carry on.” he says as he walks away. Damian stands up embarrassed to be caught doing something so childish, but he resumes a few seconds later.


	4. Thanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next update is going to be a biggie, so it might be a while, but I will try to hurry.

Maps is leaving for Thanksgiving in exactly 17 hours. Damian sits on her bed in her dorm room.  
“It's only for the weekend. I'll be back on Monday.”  
“I know that.”  
“I'll call. What are you going to do at Christmas?”  
“I do not know why you insist on thinking that I can not survive without you.”  
“Because I can see through you. And go have fun with your family. It'll probably be better than mine. Alfred's such a good cook.”  
“I suppose. ‘  
“You'll be busy fighting crime any way. It'll be over before you know it.”  
“-tt-”  
O.0.o  
“Hi Mom.” says Maps as she gets into the car's back seat next to Kyle, before noticing that the only other person in the car in the driver. “Mrs. Mizoguchi send her regrets about not being able to pick you up.”  
“It's fine.” says Kyle as the car starts up. Maps looks out at the soon-to-be stormy sky.  
O.0.o  
Damian is on the salmon ladder after leaving Gotham Academy. “Perhaps a brake, Master Damian.” suggest Alfred as he drops off a glass of water for the boy.   
“No.” he responds tersely continuing to pull himself up.   
“You don’t want to strain yourself Damian.” notes Bruise from the computer.  
“I am not going to.” He drops down. “I am fine.”  
“Clearly.”   
o.0.o  
When Maps reaches her house she learns that both her parents are in Abu Dhabi, on a trip that she never heard about. She also finds out that they wouldn’t be home until tomorrow, but with the word of a blizzard moving in they might be stuck there all weekend. Kyle clenches his fists when they hear the news and Maps heads out to her room right after.   
Maps pushes open the door to a room that looks like it should belong to a princess obsessed 4 year old. The walls are a soft pink and match the comforter that is strewn across the white four post bed. She sits on the bed and kicks her shoes off at the vanity that she's never used. her phone makes it’s way out of her bag.   
“Hi.” She says.  
“Hello. How is being home?” responds Damian his breaths heavy.  
“Boring. My parents aren't even here. They left for Abu Dhabi and weren’t coming home until tomorrow anyway and with the incoming storm they probably won’t be coming home and we'll miss Thanksgiving again and I can tell that Kyle is made about it but like they always do this I mean I won't see them until Christmas and I didn’t even know they were away-”  
“Maps. Clam down.”  
“Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's just I wanted to see them. they left for Australia at the store of July so it’s been five months. I know they don’t really care, but still. “  
“You’re going to come over here.”  
“What? Won’t Bruce-”  
“No I'll deal with him. Ill pick you up.”  
“Uh alright. Thanks Damian. Question: why were you out of breath when you answered the phone?”  
“I was on the salmon ladder. Things are terribly boring here.”  
“Is it because I’m not there?”  
“Quite possibly.”  
“Thats sweet. I'll see you tomorrow.”  
“Bye Maps.”  
O.0.o  
Damian looks out his window. The roads in front of the manor are completely covered in snow. So he dresses warm and takes the snow cat.   
The wind bites at his neck for two hours before he reaches Maps house. Its large compared to most homes, but would pale before the manor. Her family clearly isn't old money like this.   
She told him not to use the front door so he drives around back and stops before the first door he finds. None ot the paths are shoveled and he drives the car right up to the door and knocks.   
Maps opens the door and the only thing Damian can see is her eyes. She is clearly smiling under her scarf. “You made it!” she says, but Damian only hears it as a mumble.   
“Of course.”  
“Happy Thanksgiving.”  
“I do not understand the meaning of this holiday.”  
“You're not from around here is showing.”  
“How close are you?” he asks playfully and knowing Maps has been trying to piece together where he's from.  
“that would be telling.”  
“-tt- Let's go we'll be late.” Maps hops up on the back of the snowmobile and hugs Damian at the waist. “Why do you make it such a big mystery?”   
“Because you're smart and it's my business.”  
“Humph.”  
“What?”  
“I just thought you trusted me more.”  
“I do. I … nevermind.”  
“What?”  
“I just don't want you to think differently of me.”   
“Dami, why would you think that?”   
“Later. We'll see how far you got and i'll fill you in.”  
“Pinkie promise? She sticks her pinky out.   
“Maps I'm driving.” She continues to keep it up Damian takes it. His hand quickly returns to the controls.  
“You can't break a pinkie promise.”   
O.0.o   
The hop off the snowmobile into the slightly warmer air of the Bat cave. They shake the snow off their clothing and stomp their boots on the ground. Damian leads her up into the main house and to the kitchen where an older boy leans against a doorway. “Let me guess you're the famous Maps. I’m Dick.” He says offering his hand.  
Maps takes it. “You're the one from the phone.”   
“You remember.”  
“Of course. You're his brother.”  
“He’s not my-”  
“What’d he have to do to win you over?” Maps flushes red and Damian grows annoyed.  
“He’s nice.”  
“That's not a word often used to describe Damian.”  
“Grayson. I am right here.”  
“I know, but I should go. See you love birds latter.”  
Damian mumbles as Dick walks away. “I will kill him in his sleep.”’  
“Don’t be- oh! What smells so good?” Remarks Maps as a scent wafts out of the kitchen. She walks into the kitchen where Alfred stands in an apron.  
“Happy Thanksgiving, Alfred.”  
“And same to you, Ms. Mizoguchi.”  
“Can you please call me Maps. That's my mother.”  
“Will do, Maps.”  
o.0.o  
Alfred calls them all to the table. Maps slides into a seat next to Damian. Everyone passes bowls around and scoops food into their plate. “Thanks for joining us Maps.” says Bruce breaking the silence.   
“Thanks for having me. I haven’t had a real Thanksgiving in a while.”  
“I still do not understand the purpose of this holiday.”  
“Master Damian, it is to celebrate the pilgrims and Indians working together.”   
“They proceeded to kill everyone who help-” Damian looks surprised as a fork full of turkey finds his way into his mouth. Maps holds the other end and looks smug. She lets go and continues eating as if all is normal. Dick lets out a large laugh and she catches both Alfred and Bruce smiling. Damian plucks the fork out of his mouth and swallow the turkey. “What was that for?”  
“Thanksgiving. It is all about being thankful for what you have.” She says before adding, “and food” as an afterthought.  
“-tt-”

They finish up dinner with the most delicious pumpkin pie Maps has ever tasted and then Maps find herself wandering the many halls of Wayne Manor with Damian holding her hand.   
“Alright, I triangulated the various locations you have mentioned and then used added in the fact that you speak Arabic. I got Pakistan. Was I right?”  
“That’s impressive. I was born in a place called Nanda Parbat. It’s not on any maps, except perhaps Father’s.”  
“Okay, why the big secret?”  
“Nanda Parabat is the home to a group of people called the League of Assassins. My grandfather is a man called Ras Al Ghul.” He looks over at Map’s blank looks.   
“So you grew up with a bunch of assassins hanging around and, what, you were destined to become one?”  
“Yes.”  
“But you didn’t want to tell me, because you thought that I might, what, not like you anymore?” There is a small silence that answers her question. “Well, Damian, you were wrong. Are people usually upset about it?”  
“Yes.”  
“Well, they’re assholes because your really sweet and care a lot and not some crazy assassin.”  
“We should probably be getting you home though.”  
“Alright.”  
o.0.o  
Maps peels off the the snowmobile and pulls open the back door. She pauses inside and watches him drive off before starting to remove her clothes. She climbs up the stairs once she’s free. “Where’d you go?” asks Kyle  
“Damian invited me over.”  
“Who?”  
“Damian. We’ve been hanging out.”   
“Damian... Wayne?”  
“Yep.”  
“That kid's a brat.”  
“No he’s not. How was the Smith’s?”  
“We are not done with this. Are you and him together?”  
“Yeah.”  
“I want to meet this kid.”  
“Fine.”


	5. BatBear Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More cuteness!

Kyle wasn’t going to let up on meeting Damian. It was his big brother duty. That is why Maps calls them both out into the woods on the Academy’s grounds. “Hey, Dami.” she says walking up.  
“Who's this?”  
“Kyle, my brother. He wanted to meet you.”  
“Hello. I'm Damian.” He offers out his hand and her brother takes it.   
“Your dating my sister.”  
“Yes. Maps is enjoyable company.”  
“I suppose that I should let you know that if you hurt her-”  
“Kyle!”  
“It's in the big brother code. So if you hurt my sister, you'll be in trouble.” Map notes Damian’s desire to say something undoubtedly flip back. He just says “noted.”  
“My duty is done. Keep it clean and have fun.” He says turning to leave. Maps walks up to Damian.  
“Thanks.”  
“For what?”  
“Being civil.”  
“-tt-”  
“And we’re back to our regularly scheduled Damian.”  
O.0.o  
Titus rubs himself against Maps legs as she stares at the chess board. The games has been going on for over an hour. Damian moves his pawn and taps the timer. Maps reacts quickly moving her knight and hitting the timer.  
Alfred enters the room with a tray of drinks. “Who won the last round?”  
“It's still the same game, Pennyworth.”  
“It seems like you're both evenly matched.” He sets the tray down and starts to leave.  
“Thanks Alf!” Maps cries after him.

Damian is left with his king, while Maps holds onto a rook and her king. She tries corning him. It takes twenty minutes of shuffling back and forth for a checkmate to occur. “-tt-” remarks Damian in response to his lost.  
“You’re a worthy opponent.” She says dramatically.   
“As are you. Where'd you learn to play?”  
“Google, you?”  
“Grandfather.”  
“He's the one with the cool name.”  
“Its Arabic. It means Demon Head.”  
“Even cooler. Kinda creepy though. Say something else in Arabic.”  
“'ant jamilat mithl alshshams.”  
“Swoon. What does it mean?”  
“You are as beautiful as the sun.”  
“Swoon.” She repeats. “Your a romantic.”  
“I am not a liar.”  
“Damian.” She responds sweetly, turning red.  
“Yes?”  
“You sap. Can we go punch something now?”  
“Yes. That game was way too long. Come along Titus.” The black dog walks out the door after him.

“Uh Bruce, who is this?” says a dark haired boy.  
“Thats Maps.” He says. Maps looks over to Damian who is clearly angry. “It's a long story.” Bruce continues.   
“I didn't know you were here, Drake.” remarks Damian.  
“What are you planning to do about it?”  
“Boys-” Bruce cuts in. They both turn away, and Damian continues to lead her over to the training area.   
“Is he the ape or the fool?” She asks once out of earshot.  
“What?”   
“Your brother. You said one was a ape and the other a fool. Which one is he?”  
“Drakes the fool.” Damian carefully wraps her hands with tape, before doing his.   
Maps throws forth a punch that has no effect on the bag. It may of even swung towards her. Damian throws the next punch and the bag reels back. “Show off” she scoffs jokingly.   
“You're not strong.”  
“Gee. Thanks.”   
“You're not. You got to put your whole body into the punch. And fix your hand. You'll hurt yourself doing that.” He shows her how to properly punch. She mimics it and the bag moves.   
“Cool.”  
“Keep your stomach tense.” She tries again and each time it gets better.  
“You're a good teacher.”  
“-tt-”  
O.0.O  
Maps makes her way to manor after class on Friday. She hasn't heard from Damian since last night and wanted to know why the boy was ignoring her. Alfred meets her at the door. “I must warn you,” he starts, “Master Damian is in a foul mood.”  
“What did he do?” She asks surely, making the old man smile.  
“You will see for yourself.” She finds her way to his room. Damian sits at his desk leaning over something and writing on it.   
“Hey Dami.”  
“Maps.” He notes looking up. he swivels his desk chair. Map’s eyes go right to his ankle which is in a white cast.   
“Oh no! What happened?”  
“I miscalculated a jump on patrol last night.” Maps catches him pushing himself down.   
“Everybody makes mistakes.”  
“-tt-” Maps gets an idea.  
“Do you have a marker?”  
“Yes. Why?” He opens the desk drawer and gets one.  
Maps takes it. “I’m signing your cast.”  
“What?”  
“Signing your cast. It’s a thing that people do when someone gets injured.”  
Maps sits on the edge of his bed and signals for him to roll over. His foot slides up on the bed next to her. Maps writes right across the foot, so that the text is facing Damian. ‘Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has those days. (Even you.) - Love Maps.’ She ends it with a heart. “There we go. Now you won’t forget.” She camps he maker and hands it back to him. “What were you doing?” She gestures to the desk.   
“Drawing.”  
“Oh. Can I see?”  
“No.”  
“Uh okay. Well since you can’t go running around, we should go on an actual date again.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I mean hanging out here is fun, but we should go out proper some time.”  
“What do you suggest?”  
Maps shrugs before piping up. “The arcade.”  
0.o.o  
Damian looks overwhelmed as he enters Dave and Busters. His eyes find the bright lights, loud musics and excited children. Maps guides him over to the machine that dispenses play cards. “I really can't believe that you've never been to arcade. Theyre so much fun!”   
“The idea seems stupid. You pay money to play games.”  
“Alright Mr. Skeptic. We’re playing ski ball.” She leads the crutch bound boy to the way with the skee ball games. They both tap their thin cards and balls fall from the shoot. “You take a ball.” she demonstrates, “ and try to roll it into the 100 point slot.” The ball roll into the 30 point slot. “Get it?” His ball lands in the 50, before the next three hit their mark. “First WE'RE GOING TO GET SO MANY TICKETS! Second how'd you do that?.”  
“Be more gentle and keep your wrist straight.” He hobbles around behind her. His hand closes around hers and he guides the throw. It lands in the 100 hole.  
“That was horribly cliche, but I liked it.” She says.   
In the end they rack up 2,253 tickets, and move through the prize room. Maps picks up a small cute teddy bear. “You want that?” he asks   
“Yep.” There is assurance in her voice. Damian holds a sweatshirt in his hands. They place the items on the counter, and Maps speeds off to grabs two photo frames. The woman at the counter rings up their points. She looks up.  
“You have 603 tickets left.” Damian looks over at her trying to figure out what to do.  
“We’ll take it in candy!”

They stand at the edge of Gotham Academy with their coats pulled tight. “I got you this.” Damian hands her the sweatshirt.  
“Thanks. The teddy bear is yours too.”  
“What am I to do with it?”  
Put it on a shelf. Sleep with it. Whatever you want.”  
“It's just a toy.” Maps looks down clearly upset.  
“Yes, well, goodnight.”  
“Goodnight.” The turn to leave with the air.  
“This is your fault.” He says to the bear, feeling upset about making Maps upset.  
O.0.o  
The bear sits on Damian's bed. He swings back and forth on the crutches running through the events. Why would she think that he would like a teddy bear? He never had toys. Damian had toys. What do people even do with teddy bears? He stills sees Maps hurt face in his mind and sighs.   
O.0.o  
Why would he like a stupid stuffed bear? Ninjas don't like stuffed animals, but it was so cute and maybe it would've reminded him of her. She flops down on her bed. She was so sure he’d like it. “Bing” goes her phone and she reaches for it. There is a picture of the stuffed bear sitting in front of a steaming mug. “Pennyworth made BatBear a mug of hot chocolate.”   
“Batbear? I like it.”  
O.0.o  
That is how the adventures of BatBear began. Maps finds her phone going off at random points throughout the day. Each bing is accompanied by a new photo and caption. “BatBear is training. He is horribly inadequate.” “Just beat BatBear in chess. He needs to practice.” Maps smiles like a maniac at each one.   
O.0.o  
Damian is positioning BatBear in front of the Batcomputer, when heavy footsteps come in. “You're back early father.” The boy states quickly moving to cover the bear.   
“What are you up to?”  
“Nothing of any importance.”  
“What is in the chair?” Bruce walks up to the young boy and looks directly over him. “A teddy bear?”  
“Yes.”  
“Why is it at the computer?”  
“No reason.”   
“Come up stairs when you're finished.” Damian watches his father leave intently before turning around and snapping the photo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading. Make sure to let me know if you like it. Also, I'm taking prompts for this story if anyone wants to send me any!


	6. Jingle Bells Batman Smells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its time for a Christmas Special!

Christmas is in two weeks and Maps walks around the mall with Olive. They already have a few gifts tucked under their arms. “What are you getting Damian for Christmas?”  
“No idea. He has everything he could possibly want.” She glances around at the mall’s stores when one catches her eye. “I got it!” She sprints lightly over to the Build-a-Bear workshop.  
“Maps wait!” The younger girl quickly looks around before plucking at Batman costume off the wall. “You’re going to give him that?”  
“It’s an inside joke.”  
o.0.o  
“Hey Dami.” Maps says into her phone.  
“Hello.”  
“I was wondering if you’d like to come to my family’s Christmas party. Gotta warn you though. It’s one of those fancy things.”  
“I’ll go if you come to mine.”  
“I am not wearing a dress again.”  
“I don’t expect you to.”  
o.0.o  
Maps walks up to the front steps of Wayne manor. She weaves around adults in fancy outfits and moves into the main the party, looking for Damian. The boy is seen standing next to his father, who is talking with a group of ladies who are fawning over the disgruntled boy. He speaks to the women and turns away heading to his girlfriend. “Merry Christmas.”  
“You too, Dami. Hey look you got a new cast.”  
“Yes. I can walk in this one.”  
“I’ll have to sign it again.”  
“-tt-”  
“-tt-” She mimics.  
“What?”  
“-tt-”  
“Maps.”  
“-tt-”  
“Stop.”  
“-tt-” He sighs and falls into silence. She speaks, “WHat do you do that?”  
“Do what?”  
“-tt-”  
“I don’t know. Just stop.”  
“-tt-”

 

After a while they escape from the party and Damian leads her to a small room where a person sits on the table; it is very small and neatly wrapped. He picks it up and passes it to her. “Here.”  
“I didn’t bring yours.”  
“That doesn’t matter.”  
“Yeah it does. Now I feel bad.”  
“Maps, open it.” She removes the wrapping, very carefully. The gift looked perfect, maybe she’ll if Damian can wrap all of her gifts. She pulls the lid off the smaller bow that sits inside. There is a small golden pin with an M on it. She looks up.   
“What is it?”  
“A tie pin. Grayson suggested that I get you jewlery, but I have never seen you wear a piece. I got you a tie pin.” They end up standing quite close together.  
“It’s really nice. Thanks.”  
“You’re welcome.”  
“Uh, hey Dami,” She says shrinking back. “Do you think it’s weird that we never kiss or anything? I mean we did, but like couples usually kiss a lot more.”  
“Not at all. We have more sophisticated methods of expression our affection.”  
“Hm.”  
“Do you wish we kissed more?”  
“No, I mean I never really thought about it, but I didn’t know what you wanted to do. I like spending time with you.”  
“So we’re agreed.”  
“I suppose.”  
“Let's go dance.”  
“But your foot.”  
“I’ll be fine.”  
o.0.o

Maps finds herself home for the holidays and straightening her jacket in front of her mirror. There is a quick knock on the door before her mother pushes it open. “Are you- what are you wearing?”  
“My suit.” She says obviously.  
“What about your dress? You have so many to pick from.”  
“I don’t like dresses. I’ve told you this before.”  
“Well, you can not go to the party dressed like that It is not appropriate.”  
“Why not?”  
“You’re not a boy. Get changed.”  
“No. This was fine when I wore it to the Wayne Party.”  
“You wore that. Maps’ you’re embarrassing us all. And how did you get an invite to the Wayne Party.”  
“A friend.” At that point Maps’ pushes past her mother and locks herself in the bathroom.   
“Get changed or stay out of sight.”  
o.0.o  
Damian climbs up the steps to the Mizoguchi’s house. The Christmas party is in full swing and Damian wonders along the walls looking for Maps, before noticing that she is nowhere to be found. “Where are you?” He texts.  
“My room. Second floor. Third door on the right.”

Damian reaches the door and lightly knocks. “it’s open” He turns the knob.  
“Whats wrong?”  
“Nothing.” She says wiping puffy eyes.  
“Liar.” He sits down next to her on the edge of the bed.   
She looks up to his eyes, “it’s my mom. She told me that I couldn’t go down to the party if I wore this.”  
“That is absolutely absurd.”  
“That's my mom.”  
“We’ll have more fun up here than down there with the shallow socialites.” Her stomach rumbles lightly. “But, I we can get food first.”  
“Great. There's old servant tunnels that lead down to the kitchen. Follow me.” She takes Damian’s hand and leads him into a panel door.   
“Is this what you do when you’re home?”  
“No. I mapped these years ago. I’m currently working on Gotham Academy. The passages go on for miles.”  
“Is that how you found the Batcave?”  
“No. I traced out Batman sightings and directions the Batmobile has seen being driven and then traced it all down to a 360 acre area. The rest was fate. Turn right up here.” The floorboards creak under their feet. The path is about 3 feet wide so they walk one behind the other. “There should be stairs up ahead.”  
“I see them. Are you sure that they’re safe?”  
“I’ve been on them before.”  
“That's not an answer.” He treads down them carefully and Maps follows behind them. “Maps, be caref-” With a crack Maps falls though the second stair. A sharp cry escapes her lips.   
“Uh yeah. Give me a sec.” She stands up rubbing her elbow and pushing dust off herself. She searches her pocket for her phone and puts it on flash light mode. “Woah. Haven’t been here before. Get down here.”  
“If we get stuck-”  
“We’ll be fine. Come On. Wait your leg.”   
“I’ll manage.” Damian jumps down and lands on his feet. “Show off, but look.” She pans the flashlight around to a pile of cases and frames that are covered with white sheets. “We found treasure.”  
“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re rubbing your shoulder.”  
“We found treasure. Get your phone out. I gotta see what's in those.” She kneels down in the dirt in front of the foremost trunk. “Damn padlock, can you help?”  
“Move back.” Damian kicks down hard on the padlock shattering it. He sits down next to Maps when they lift the lid and choke on the dust.   
“Look books and letters and -oh.” Maps pulls out a long piece of fringe cloth. The colour has fades but once was red. “Oh! Gatsby!” Map’s responds fake fainting on top of Damian, when she notices what time the dress must come from.   
“Get off.” He says pushing her from his lap.  
“I wonder if it’s my size. Oh maybe there will be a suit in one of these and we can take a some old timey pictures.”

Sure enough, there was a suit, but it was much too big for Damian. Maps insists on getting it tailored while holding it up to the boy. They are still in the hidden room, pouring through all the stuff. Maps has started collecting all the letters that were in the cases they opened. She had about 25 now. “We should find whose stuff this is.”   
“They are most likely dead.” responds Damian.  
“Then their kids maybe. It’s a mystery and we gotta solve it.”  
“We should try to find a way out of here.”  
“Yeah. There has to be a door. Come on.” They move along the walls using their phones as flashlights looking for any break in the walls. Maps wiped the grime from her hands on her pants, before putting the back up and landing it in the grove. “Got something.” Damian walks over towards her and they trace out the frame of the door with their fingers. “There's no handle.”  
“We have to push it then.”  
“Alright on the count of three. One, two, THREE!” They toss both of their weight on the door and only have it budge slightly. Maps rubs her shoulder that just got more sore than before. “Let's go again.”  
“Your shoulder.”  
“It will be fine. One, two, three.” The door breaks open and the two of them topple out on to the floor of the ballroom. Staff was cleaning up the party. Kyle looks over at the two who are now on a pile on the floor.   
“What are you doing?” he asks  
“Kyle, we found treasure.” They say hopping up and dusting themselves off. They look down at their outfits both are torn and tattered.  
“What?”   
“Treasure. But you can't tell anyone we’re on a mission.” Map leads him back into the room.  
“Okay this is cool.”   
“I know right!” Damian stands in the doorway.  
“I best be getting home.” He notes.  
“Bye.” Says Maps looking back at him. “Stop by tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do.”  
O.0.o  
Damian walks down the halls of Wayne manor. “Master Damian, what happened to your clothes?”   
“No one would believe me, Pennyworth.  
O.0.o  
“Dang it!” Says Maps stepping out of the shower. “I forgot to give him his gift!”


	7. Follow Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for some science fair shenanigans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly filler that I wrote over break. Also if you have any prompts or things you'd like to see feel free to leave them in the comments! Also I recently changed my name to PrideandPadawans, just in case anyone is confused.

“I need help.”  
“Maps, what wrong?”  
“May of just blew up the kitchen.”  
“Are you okay?”  
“Um maybe. Not sure. There's just slime everywhere. I don’t think it’s acid.”  
“Give me 20 minutes.”  
“Okay.”  
“And don’t touch anything.” 

“Maps what happened?” Damian walks into the kitchen. He looks around at the walls that are covered in red gunk. It crunches under his shoe. Maps looks over covered from head to toe.  
“Science fair. I have to have a project done by the time we get back.”  
“And this is?”  
“A volcano. I tried to make it so the lava glows.”  
“You should come back to the cave. There is a state of the art lab there and I’m sure we can make a better project than this.” He says lifting his shoes up as it sticks to the ground.”  
“We’ll we have to clean this first.”  
“Don’t you have a staff to do that?”  
“Damian. Get a sponge.”

“I will never be able to wear these clothes again.” Complains the dark haired boy as he scrubs down a cabinet.  
“Quit complaining. Have use seriously never cleaned anything?”  
“Grandfather had servants do any cleaning and Father has Pennyworth.”  
“Well, I don’t think it would kill you to clean every once in awhile. It might even be nice.”  
“-tt-”

They finish up with the kitchen and begin to get ready to leave when, “Wait!” cries Maps.  
“What is it?”  
“Come along, Pond.”  
“What?”  
“Ugh. Just follow me. We can watch Doctor Who later.”  
Maps grabs his hand and takes him up to her room. They stop in front of a large self standing corkboard. It takes up most of the room.  
“Where did you get that?”  
“Amazon, but that's not important. What on it is.”  
“They’re the letters from the trunk.”  
“Yep. They are actually kind of beautiful and between an Alexander and an Elizabeth. No last name, but they were suppose to go away together. That is why their stuff was all packed up. But i can’t get very far with no last names or anything.”  
“We can access the census from the cave and find out who lived in this house at the time. And then we can possibly any relatives.”  
“I knew there was a reason we kept you around.” She responds with a smirk.  
“-tt-”

O.0.o  
“First I need a science fair project. Something impressive I do have a reputation.”  
“What did you put in the lava the first time?” Maps sets the large and slightly damaged paper mache volcano on the table.  
“No idea my notes are back home. But there has to be baking soda and vinegar.”  
“What about using something that already glows?”  
“Like what?”  
“Paint. Red glow in the dark paint.”  
“Why didn’t I think of that? Wouldn’t of used the last of the Draino.”  
“Drano?”  
“I doesn’t matter. Do you have the paint?”  
Damian looks around. “I do not know.”

They found and asked Alfred about the paint who said that there was not any in the manor. So they took Damian’s bike to Home Depot. “What is this store?”  
“It’s where people go to get building stuff. We can find paint. Follow me.”  
“Always.” She looks back at him with a smile. They navigate the selves 3 times their height, while walking up and down the paint isles.  
“It got to be here somewhere.”  
“Maps-”  
“Yes?”  
“We are in exterior paint.”  
“Oh.”  
They found a gallon of the grail two aisles over.  
“Why wouldn’t someone want a glow-in-the-dark house? I mean that should really make an outdoor versions.”  
“That house would be obnoxious.”  
“I think I would be cool. You would always be able to see it.”

“Damian! Get the lights. I'm about to test it.”  
“I do not know how to the Batcave lights turn off. They’re always on.”  
“There has to be a light switch. Or a fuse box. Lets look along the walls.”

“Hold up! Dami! I got it!” She clicks open the metal panel and stares down the row of switches. “Imma try something.” She pushes all the switches to the left. The lights cut out and there is a whirring sound as everything powers down. “Did it!”  
Map’s momentary pride subsides as floodlights kick on and a siren goes off, while the Batcomputer kicks into backup power. “What did you do?”  
“Just turned all the fuses off. I think something went wrong.” Damian walks up to her.  
“I couldn’t tell.”  
“Hey! You don’t know where the light switch is in your own house.”  
“Children.” Notes a stern voice who just entered the room. Damian recognizes it as his father.  
“I’m not a child.” The bot snaps.  
“What happened?”  
“We were trying to turn the lights off. Sorry for breaking your Batcave.”  
“Just flip all the switches back to the way they were. I’ll get the lights.” Maps hastily moves them all back into place while Bruce walks up the Batcomputer. He turns the lights off as Maps turns them on. “Why do need the lights off?”  
“For a science project.” She responds, before leaning closer to Damian. “Okay this is actually kinda scary.”  
“-tt-”  
“shut up. Just get the baking soda.” They finish the final set up what Alfred when comes down the stairs. The fur of them huddle around the volcano while Maps squirts dish soap. They add the vinegar. The foam pours down the paper mache and starts pooling around the base. The lava shines bright in the pitch black Batcave. “OHHHHHH” escapes Maps’ lips.  
o.0.o  
Damien finds himself holding a sponge for the second time in a day. He does not like the new trend and voices his opinion on it as they use a tone of towels to mop up the mess. “I can not believe you volunteered us for this.”  
“It’s called being nice Damian. We are working on it. Plus, we made the mess.”  
“-tt-”


	8. Valentines Day

“Sooooooooooooooooooooo bored!” Wails Maps while scanning through every person who lived in Gotham county in 1920. Damian had 1930. “You should digitalize these. That way we can just search.”  
“There isn’t much cause to go through all the work.”  
“We found cause. It’s just hard looking for an address.”  
“Did you even check if it was an ancestor of yours?”  
“My parents bought the house.”  
“-tt-”

“I..” She starts drawing it out as she reads over the information again, “got it! Jacob Shelly. Daughter Elizabeth Shelly and two other kids: Mary and David.”  
“Do we have a birthday?”  
“January 21st 1904.”  
“I’m running the information through every government database. It will take a while. I suggest we get dinner.”  
“Food!”

Alfred made them a pizza and Maps quickly picks up a gooey delicious looking slice. She puts it in her mouth. “This is the best pizza ever. Not lying” She says to Alfred who thanks her.  
“How is the search going?” asks the older man  
“We have a name. ELizabeth Shelly. The computer is checking through government records.” She explains excitedly. I just want to know what happened to them. Why was their stuff tucked away?”  
“You have a proper mystery.”  
“Don’t worry Pennyworth,” starts Damian, “we’ll solve it.”

o.0.o

“So she didn’t marry Alexander.” Maps clarifies.  
“No, she married Joshua. They moved to Boston and had one son who died at 4 due to polio.”  
“That's so sad! First she doesn’t marry the man she loves, then her kid dies.”  
“I guess. There's no living relatives. That's the end.”  
“Man..” She spins around in the chair at the batcomputer.”  
“What?”  
“It just seems anticlimactic. I don’t know.”  
“Well, how did science fair go?”  
She snaps back to herself. “It was great! I mean, not as cool as it was here, but still. I got first place.”

o.0.o

Maps and Damian’s lay on her bed at Gotham Academy. The former tosses a squishy ball into the air before catching it. “What are we doing for Valentine’s day?” She asks.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Valentine's Day is in two weeks. We should go out somewhere nice.”  
“I suppose. What do you say to the ballet?”  
“Do you like the ballet?”  
“Yes. It can be quite beautiful.”  
“Huh. I always found it boring.”  
“What do you want to see?” She smirks lightly and he rolls onto his side to look at her.”What?”  
“Hamilton.” She says throwing the ball in the air and lets it hit the ground next to her. “It’s a musical. I don’t think you’d like it though.”  
“Why?”  
“Well it’s hip hop.”  
“-tt-” He says rolling onto his back. Maps counters by flipping up on her side.  
“I know. I know. Just give it a listen?” He agrees and Maps unlocks her phone and pulls up Amazon Music.  
“How does a bastard orphan...” starts the song. Damian catches Map lip syncing along with every word. 

When the song finishes, Damian looks over at her. “That was adequate.”  
“That means it was good. It got the Damian Wayne seal of approval! Yes!” She says excitedly.  
“I will get tickets.”  
“Okay, but only at night. I have a plan for the afternoon.”  
“A surprise?” He asks tiredly.  
“Yes. You’ll like it. Oh and don’t dress nice.”  
“We have to for a show.”  
“Bring that stuff we’ll change.”

o.0.o

Damian arrives and promptly 12 noon on February 14th. He totes a box to chocolates that Alfred had recommended, and his suit for the evening. His fist rapts lightly at the door. It whips open excitedly and Maps stands before it holding out a box of chocolates to him. They look nearly identical and a small laugh escapes her lips. Along with a, “great minds think alike.” They switch boxes, while both saying ‘thank you.’  
Back into the room Damian asks, “where are we going?”  
“I already told you.”  
“No you didn’t”  
“Yes I did. I said it’s a surprise. Let me get my jacket.”

Maps hands the taxi driver the address on a sticky note, so that Damian doesn’t hear her say it. They ride for a while, before the cab rolls up to a mall and Maps excitedly pays the driver.  
The mall is full of couples walking around and popping in and out of stores. She leads him through the maze, before stopping at a shop. “What is this place?” the boy asks.  
“Plaster Fun Time. You take a plaster thingy and then paint it. Come on!” Maps eyes move up and down the display shelves as she looks for something to paint. “Here” She notes picking up a wall plaque in the shape of Superman’s S “You should paint it and hang it in the Batcave.”  
“Father would be mad.”  
“That is kind of the point, Dami. It’s a prank.”  
“We can find something else.” The something else that they find is a dragon statue for Damian and a castle for Maps. They set up on the table and grab paint from the dispensers. She watches as Damian sets his up on his mixing palate and slowly starts to blend the colours together to make a beautiful gradient of red, orange and yellow. She lamely mixes black and white together to make some grey. They begin to paint, Maps with a larger brush and Damian with a series of fine tools. There is no talking as they focus on their work and enjoy the company of each other.  
Maps finishes her castle and looks up at Damian, who has quite a bit of painting left to do. What he has painted though, Maps notices is purely beautiful. Each of the scales seems to catch the light and send if bouncing off in a different direction. They almost seem to move. The girl brings her piece up to the counter, and pays for both the sculptures. She also hands the worker hers so they they can dry it and put glitter on it. Maps sits back down and watches him work.  
She doesn’t last long.  
“Where did you learn to paint like that?”  
“Tutors.”  
Pause.  
“You should open a gallery.”  
“No.”  
Maps fidgets with her phone.  
“Who else knows you draw?”  
“A few people.”  
She pauses again, starting to get the idea that she is annoying him, because he starts to work faster. Maps tries to focus on how he works and eventually he finishes and brings the piece to the counter for dying. The man behind it, looks over the piece clearly impressed. Damian revels in it for a moment.  
o.0.o  
After changing into their evening clothes, Damian calls a car that he had ordered for the night. “Where are we going for dinner?” Maps asks.  
“It’s a surprise.”  
She stares out the window as they move into the high end part of Gotham. They roll up in front of brick building with a long canopy stretching out onto the sidewalk. A man in a suit reaches out to open the door and Maps excitedly scoots out. Damian follows her and two men open the doors for them when they reach it. Maps finds her eyes wandering around, while Damian talks to the hostess. The place is modern and elegant. It is also lit up with fairy lights. Her attention is snapped back to Damian when he brushes her arm to let her know to follow the hostess. They are seated at a table in the front corner, tucked away from the rest of the restaurant. They take their seats and Maps looks over the menu and quickly notices a problem. “Uh Damian?”  
“Yes?”  
“This menu is in French. Like entirely in French.”  
“Do you want me to find you something?”  
“Yes. Something good.”  
o.0.o  
“Good choice.” She compliments as Maps places a fork full of food into her mouth. “What’s it called?”  
“Gigot D’Agneau Pleureur”  
“It’s so delicious. You are totally in charge of picking the restaurant for now on.” She places another piece of food in her mouth, before proceeding to lick her plate clean.  
o.0.o  
Damian notices her bouncing with excitement as they walk up to the doors on the theatre. He enjoys watching her excitement and desire to take everything around her in. The man scans their tickets and they walk into the theatre. Maps grabs his hand and leads him excitedly to the merchandise table. She looks over the stuff as they wait in line. Their hands are locked.  
“Two hats and sweatshirts a small and a medium.” She blurts out in one breath and the unfortunate teen behind the counter manages to catch it all. When the merch is passed to her and she pays for it. Damian immediately finds a snapback on his head and a sweatshirt in his arms. The gold writing on the hat reads, “A. HAM” and looks utterly ridiculous on the usually pompous boy. He thinks Maps looks cute in her hat.  
It is Damian’s turn to lead now, as he shows her to the actual theatre. The usher takes their tickets and passes them Playbills, before guiding them up to the front of the orchestra. Maps’ eyes grow with every row up they walk. She learns that their seats are in the middle of the second row. Before sitting down, she jumps up and clasps her arms around Damian’s neck. “Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome, but I think we best sit down. It is almost show time.”  
o.0.o  
“That was the best show ever.”  
“I do have one more surprise.” She turns to him eyes wide.  
“What?”  
“It’s at the manor.”  
“Let's go!”  
o.0.o  
The manor is quiet as the two enter it. Damian leads her directly to his bedroom and passes her a small wrapped package. She can instantly tell that it is a book and carefully undoes the wrapping. A small cloth bound book falls into her hands. She looks up at Damian confused. “It’s Elizabeth’s diary. I found it sitting in the archive at a local history museum and, uh, bought it from them.”  
“No way.” She responds flipping through the pages. “Let’s read it.”  
That is how they spend the night, curled up together with a near one hundred page diary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s all folks! Except on quite, because even though this is the end of this story I’m working on a series of DamiMaps oneshots called Dancing through Life. They won’t be directly connected to this story and it also allows me to time skip and just mess around. So, send me your prompts for that story. Also, I’m going to put the ideas given to me on this story into that one.  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/5767012


End file.
